Pathlights: Holding the Torch to Light Another Woman’s Path, We Brighten Our Own
By Janet Steele Holloway
This beautifully-designed book tells the empowering, inspiring story of Women Leading Kentucky (WLK) founder Janet Holloway, and some of the women – and men! – whose lives have been significantly impacted by the organization. I am honored to be one of them. The personal stories and encouraging quotes sprinkled throughout will leave the reader feeling that ambitions and goals are achievable, even if you must persevere. Perhaps you, too, have been among those benefitting from the strong examples of female leadership and mentorship WLK and Janet Holloway exhibit and promote to all those around them.
– Reviewed by Jennifer Hester Mattox, Executive Director
That Book Woman
By Heather Henson
One job of a Carnegie non-profit employee is to continually advocate to adults about the value of literacy and learning. However, when I read this illustrated and historic tale about the Pack Horse Librarians, full of colloquial Appalachian charm to children, they immediately get it. The heroic message at the heart of the book is that learning is worth sacrificing for. It’s worth facing the wind and rain, alone on horseback. It’s worth climbing mountains. These stories of brave women risking their lives for future generations are worth telling, again and again.
– Reviewed by Jonathan Hall, Carnegie Center Youth Programs & Volunteer Director
Load in Nine Times
By Frank X Walker
Lexington poet Frank X Walker, a University of Kentucky creative writing professor who was inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame last year, has made a specialty of writing historic poetic narratives. This book, which reimagines the stories of Kentucky Black people around the Civil War era, may be his best book yet in this genre. These poems benefit both from Walker’s deep research into these people and their times and his talent for tight storytelling that always ends with an emotional punch. These poems help their subjects come alive.
– Reviewed by Tom Eblen, Carnegie Center Literary Liaison
Driftwood: The Life of Harlan Hubbard
By Jessica K. Whitehead
Harlan Hubbard, who grew up in the Northern Kentucky suburbs across from Cincinnati, was an American original. He and his wife, Anna, spent years floating their shantyboat down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, then returned to the Ohio’s banks in Trimble County and lived a subsistence life for decades in a remote cabin they built themselves. Louisville author Jessica Whitehead has produced the first complete biography of Hubbard, who was both a writer and painter. The book is a deeply researched, elegantly written portrait of a fascinating man who lived life on his own terms.
– Reviewed by Tom Eblen, Carnegie Center Literary Liaison
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
By L. Frank Baum
(Editor’s note: While this book doesn’t have direct ties to Kentucky, it’s included because it is the theme for this year’s Carnegie Classics. Carnegie Classics is an immersive event hosted by the Carnegie Center that brings a classic work of literature to life each Fall. This year’s event takes place Nov. 8.)
L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” is a timeless classic filled with imagination, heart, and adventure for people of all ages. The story follows Dorothy, a young girl swept away by a cyclone to the magical land of Oz, as she embarks on a journey to find her way home. Alongside her iconic companions, the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Cowardly Lion, and last but not least, her beloved dog Toto, she discovers courage, friendship and the power of self-belief. Get lost in Baum’s vivid storytelling and whimsical world-building this summer.
– Reviewed by Lucy Oquaye, Carnegie Center Development Associate